Human suffering finds more readership: Ray

Bhopal, Aug 24 (UNI) Literature that underlines human suffering finds greater acceptability, feels eminent Oriya writer Pratibha Ray.

''Sale of short-story collections has declined in other parts of the country but the inclination of Oriyas towards such collections has not. In my state, the level of poetry and short-story collections is high and therefore they draw substantial royalty,'' she told reporters here today.

Disputing the linking of her work with leftist ideology and harassment of women, Ms Ray added that human suffering was her chief subject.

''In 'Yagyasaini', I have used Draupadi's character as a medium for not only underlining the condition of women in that age's Indian society but also made her character emerge as the most powerful,'' said the author who has 20 novels, 22 short-story collections and 10 travelogues to her credit.

The novel 'Yagyasaini' has been been translated into English, Hindi and several other languages.

UNI AG-AC 1708